The best thing about being the boss is I get to choose which tasks I delegate and which I do myself. Today, I chose this…

Our EPIC is on the way, and I’ve been playing around with some footage shot at this September’s REDucation in preparation of delivery.  Here is a little sample:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our EPIC is on the way, and I’ve been playing around with some footage shot at this September’s REDucation in preparation of delivery.  Here is a little sample:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our EPIC is on the way, and I’ve been playing around with some footage shot at this September’s REDucation in preparation of delivery.  Here is a little sample:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our EPIC is on the way, and I’ve been playing around with some footage shot at this September’s REDucation in preparation of delivery.  Here is a little sample:

Click here to view the embedded video.

And now for something completely different…

We don’t often have the opportunity to do a completely outside the box project here at Groovy.  While we always work hard to be creative and tell good stories for our clients, we are constrained by the project’s audience, the objective, and the “think, feel, do” of the project.  This one was different.  We were asked to help the San Diego Blood Bank decorate golf holes for their 2011 Transylvania Classic Golf Classic Tournament.  Their one and only requirement? Make it fun. So we did!

BIG thank you to everyone who helped make this project a success – especially the team at Titan Arts who brought a lot of humor and hard work to this short film.

Principal photography was on our RED One with second unit photography on our 5D MK II.  The project was written on Wednesday, shot on Thursday, edited on Friday, shown on Saturday.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Film Fading to Black is a really interesting look at the current state of film from the team over at Creative Cow.  What hooked me is the first paragraph (emphasis mine):

While the debate has raged over whether or not film is dead, ARRI, Panavision and Aaton have quietly ceased production of film cameras within the last year to focus exclusively on design and manufacture of digital cameras. That’s right: someone, somewhere in the world is now holding the last film camera ever to roll off the line.

And by “film,” I mean the celluloid medium (as opposed to tape or a digital storage device).  The last time Groovy Like a Movie shot on film was circa 2004 for a car commercial (when I was seriously considering purchasing an A-Minima), so while this has no real practical effect on us as a business, I think there is a mind-set that is different when shooting with film vs shooting with video – and I fear the loss of this way of thinking.

Once while shooting video, I heard a director say “just keep rolling – the tape is the cheapest thing on set.”  While this “just keep rolling” mentality may catch some happy accidents (unintentional moments that are good, but couldn’t have been planned for), I think overall it is bad for a production.  When shooting film, every movement on set is choreographed.  Everything is planned.  Everyone is careful.  There is artistry – there had to be – because making a mistake when shooting film could be costly.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not pining away for the good-ol days of changing bags, maxing out at 8-minute takes, and not knowing for days if you actually had the shot you needed.  Digital is an improvement in almost every way over film. However – the artistry – That’s hard to achieve when everything is so easy.  People get lazy.  It’s in our nature to do the least amount of work necessary – conserve energy whereever possible!

That’s part of why I like working with our RED ONE (and soon our RED EPIC).  These cameras have all the benefits of a digital workflow, but many of the trappings of working on film.  Because they’re not simply point and shoot cameras, it brings the necessary artistry back to production.  Crews and directors take their time; We carefully choreograph moves, but we can instantly call up the shot* and make sure we have what we need.  And if we have to improvise, it can be done!

So a moment of silence for the passing of film – not tomorrow, and maybe not soon – but with no major manufacturers building new film cameras, it is now inevitable.

Film is dead – long live film-style production!

*OK – Epic playback isn’t “instant” yet – but a few minutes at a DIT station is much better than 48 hours at a film processing house!

Finally received our new business cards. And as usual, they look fantastic!

I just got done reading a fantastic article over on FreshDV. Kendal explores a lot of things I’ve thought but never been able to quite put into words.  In addition, he provides some inspirational backup in the form of quotes from fantastic cinematographers.  Go read it.

If it pisses you off then you need to go out and prove him wrong.

Of course, by proving him wrong – you’ll likely end up proving him right.

The central premise is that just because you have good equipment, that doesn’t make you a filmmaker.  Just because you make pretty pictures, that doesn’t make you a cinematographer.  Making pretty pictures with good gear isn’t enough – you have to practice your craft make good, defendable decisions, and understand why the decision you made work in that specific situation.

There is lots of room for experimentation, montages, test footage, etc in the world Kendal describes.  Just don’t (always) call those things “art.”

When I teach at both the high school and college level, I always ask the kids “What prevents you from producing films at the highest level?” I consistently get two answers:

1. Not enough time
2. Our equipment sucks

The not enough time argument is legitimate, I tell them.  While there is NEVER enough time to do everything you want when you are a filmmaker – the pressures of student life make those time constraints even more restrictive.  So #1 – check… not much we can do about that.

However – the second reason – Once I get that answer, I call bullshit and show them this:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ayz Waraich (@ayz on Twitter) is a fantastic up-and-coming filmmaker.  He is consistently honing and improving his craft.  He understands how his choices affect the story.  Everything on the screen helps move the script forward.  He is humble and thoughtful, eager to learn, and he shot that film on what is essentially a Sony Handycam.

It ain’t the gear, folks.  Its the person (or more often the team) who wields it.

So go out and prove Kendal wrong.  Go make a film and learn from it.  Then make another (and learn from it).  And another (and learn from it).  And another…

I consider myself a lifelong learner. I love learning new things, and I do my best to keep up on technology and filmmaking techniques. Our clients rely on us to be “the experts,” and the only way to do that is to continually seek out educational opportunities.

Over the last year, I’ve been tentatively dipping my toes into 3D production. However, I’ve found the learning curve to be daunting – and I’ve found it difficult to locate a good, fundamental 3D resource. That is, until I discovered NewMediaWebinars.com. For $25, I was able to download an on-demand seminar given by James Neihouse, a cinematographer on (among many other things), the 3D Hubble IMAX film.

Think this guy knows his stuff? Um – yeah. I think he does.

The specific seminar I watched was Stereo 3D Filmmaking Bootcamp. While I found the seminar to be a little dry at times (there’s a TON of technical information that he throws at you), this was one of the best primers on stereo cinematography I’ve ever seen. At the end, I not only understood the basic techniques, but also quite a bit of the “why” of stereo cinematography. James does a fantastic job of giving you visuals that illustrate not only how the 3D works, but also why!

I have to say the seminar wasn’t perfect. I tend to struggle a bit with the powerpoint/audio nature of most online seminars and this one is no different – there’s just something more engaging about seeing a person’s face while they’re presenting that I always miss with webinars. That, combined with the dry nature of some of the technical details, meant I wasn’t able to sit through the entire 90 minutes without getting up from my computer and grabbing some caffeine.

However, at the end of the seminar, I was fired up to go out and shoot some 3D and try his techniques. I’m probably not ready to have a paying client, but I’m confident I have enough of a foundation that I can learn what I need. Now we just need to get a 3D monitor… oh, and a stereo rig (or camera)… and a script that calls for 3D…

Finally, as part of the download, I got the entire slide deck, a bonus podcast with James Neihouse, a file with reference links, and some stereo footage to play around with in FCP.

Overall? Well worth the $25 – and absolutely satisfied my lifelong learner craving.

Full disclosure – after viewing the seminar, NewMediaWebinars.com and I began a dialogue about having me teach a future class. It now looks like I’ll be talking about asset management in Final Cut Pro in March. Hopefully I can avoid some of the presentation pitfalls I identified in the Stereo 3D Filmmaking Bootcamp. If not, feel free to call me out on it!